


Do not go Gently into that Gentrification

by Sassaphrass



Category: Les Misérables (2012), Les Misérables - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Grantaire is a stubborn little shit, Hintonburg/Mechanicsville, Set in Ottawa Canada, Students, gentrification
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-02
Updated: 2014-10-02
Packaged: 2018-02-19 16:07:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2394584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sassaphrass/pseuds/Sassaphrass
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When his local bar is invaded by yuppie-student-hipsters, Grantaire refuses to take his business elsewhere. </p><p>As a result he finds himself accidentally joining a student run political group. </p><p>Ooops.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Do not go Gently into that Gentrification

**Author's Note:**

> The neighbourhood depicted is where my sister has lived these last 5 years. When she moved there it was known as Mechanicsville and considered a kind of rough area. Now it's called Hintonburg and is sort of THE place to be if you're a bright young thing with enough money to afford it (and not enough to afford The Glebe or Westboro).

Grantaire has been going to the Musain since before he could legally drink. He's one of the younger guys there but he fits in well enough. A blue-collar boy who's going to end up just like the blue-collar men that also hang out at the bar.

 

Logically, Grantaire knows that the neighbourhood must have been changing gradually for years. But, to him the process of gentrification had seemed sudden as a lightning bolt.

 

He'd like to be able to say that he'd grumbled along with the old guys about boutique cupcake shops, and locally sourced organic eateries but, he'd honestly not noticed. Between working, the gym, the bar and his own apartment he tended to keep his gaze firmly fixed on the pavement.

 

So, the moment he woke up looked around and realized that without having gone anywhere he was living in a whole new neighbourhood was the Day the Students Came.

 

Because unlike with the rest of the neighbourhood the gentrification of the Musain happened all at once and by force.

 

They burst in on a Wednesday evening, which was bad luck, Wednesday was a slow night.

 

Grantaire was propping up the bar and bleerily stared at these excited young people who chatter loudly and automatically piss off the regulars.

 

There's no question of the management siding with the regulars though. Grantaire was a member of an exclusive club of sad sacks who spend their nights trying to stretch their beers as far as possible and is well aware that university students bring with them OSAP payments or Daddy's credit card and considerably more business.

 

Not to mention the fact that one of these bright eyed yuppies was giving Musichetta the bartender a pretty involved French-kiss.

 

Grantaire exchanged glances with the two other men who hang out at the run down bar on weekdays, and sees that they all know it might as well be the kiss of death for the bar they know and love.

 

When some blonde idiot decided to stand on a chair and declaim about the political ills of the world and none of the people from his neighbourhood said anything at all. Grantaire knew that it was over. This wasn't Mechanicsville anymore. It is a neo-hipster jungle.

 

To make things worse Bahorel from the gym (who is a traitor) recognized him and swanned over with a big smile and a soft declaration of “He's something else huh?” spoken with a significant nod towards the blonde wanna-be-Che-Guevara.

 

Grantaire grimaced and rolled his eyes. “If you like that sort of thing.”

 

“Why else would you be at a political club?” Bahorel chuckled elbowing him just a bit too hard in the ribs.

 

Grantaire sort of wanted to jump on the table himself and scream about injustice. He had been mistaken for ONE OF THEM. It's horrifying. Instead he just sneered and followed the leads the others lifers had set: he payed his tab and quietly ducked out hoping the students wouldn't be there the next time.

 

They aren't there on Thursday, but Friday through Sunday finds smaller groups of them dominating the bar.

 

Just like that it's over. The Musain is never the same again.

 

Grantaire isn't sure what keeps him coming back. There are other dives he could head to, but none of them are HIS bar. It's all either a soul-less franchise (meaning the bartender will never be convinced to spot you a beer cause it's been a bad month and you're just a little bit short), or somewhere which is altogether too Irish for someone who is (nominally) Quebecois.

 

So, Grantaire stays, partly out a deeply ingrained fondness for the place and partly out of a stubborn and spiteful refusal to completely surrender the bar to the uper middle class university crowd.

 

He absolutely refuses to be run out of the place where he bought his first beer!

 

However, since he is a (pretty much) white twenty something they fail to notice that one of the natives has stood his ground against their cultural invasion and instead seem to be labouring under the mistaken impression that he hangs around there most evenings, not because he's learned the hard way that siitting alone in his apartment after work all the time leads down unfortunate roads, but because he _actually wants to hear their belaboured and fervently held political beliefs._

 

They think he's a _student._

 

It's all Grantaire can do not to punch Blonde-Guevara in the nose when he finally realises the man thinks Grantaire has joined their club. So, he settles for heckling. 

 

It really is the least he  _could_ do. 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> So, this was supposed to be a crack fic where Grantaire the local patron is used to going to his bar every night and isn't going to be quiet if a bunch of students he doesn't agree with happen to be there. Cue the ABC taking several months to work out that Grantaire is a) not a student and b) not even coming to the meetings on purpose. 
> 
> Sadly, Grantaire is a grumpy sad sack who wouldn't cooperate. 
> 
> I'm kind of worried about this fic because I've only experienced Gentrification from the student side as people moving into an area. So I hope I haven't offended anyone.


End file.
